Online shopping has revolutionized the way people purchase everything from shoes to stereos. But the larger the purchase, the more anxious a consumer becomes for some guarantee that the product will be worth the asking price. Accordingly, for the modern consumer, purchasing a vehicle can be a complicated task. Many prospective buyers use the internet to identify vehicles that may be located hundreds of miles away, making vehicle inspection a difficult undertaking Even before a suitable vehicle is located, a consumer undergoes a decision-making process that includes several steps.
A consumer must first decide what kind of vehicle best meets his or her needs. Criteria may include size, make, model, aesthetics, price, and a host of additional features. Vehicles meeting the desired characteristics may be located anywhere in the world and, unlike buyers from years past, today's consumers benefit from the internet's wide reach as a tool to help locate cost-effective options or vehicles that are rare (e.g., limited production or antique). Conventionally, vehicle searches can be performed through services such as AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, or eBay. These services allow users to locate new or used vehicles and may also provide information such as vehicle history, vehicle options, and a description of the vehicle's overall condition.
Once a suitable vehicle has been located, a consumer may next wish to determine whether the vehicle's history justifies a listed purchase price. Such a determination could involve an inspection of insurance records or it might require research into accident reports or state title and registration documents. In the past, such information was difficult to reliably locate. However, in recent years, services such as CarFax, AutoCheck, and Kelly Blue Book have made vehicle accident reports and historical information easier to obtain. Such services allow buyers and sellers to transact business with some information about a vehicle's reported history and subjective value. But offsite vehicle consumers are still without a way to determine a vehicle's current mechanical and aesthetic condition in a standardized and reliable format.
One conventional system attempts to generate leads by determining an offer price for a vehicle using historical data, such as wholesale sales that occur at vehicle auctions and dealerships, and dealer selected buyer criteria. However, this system does not provide access to current data regarding a vehicle's actual mechanical and aesthetic condition in a standardized format.
Similarly, another conventional system attempts to allow a consumer to search a database containing used vehicles for a variety of sellers that can be queried to provide search results that include vehicles having only clean title histories. Yet, as above, the database includes only vehicle histories and does not provide current standardized vehicle condition reports.
As yet another example, a conventional system generates an automated vehicle specific valuation of a used car based on the physical and historical attributes of that vehicle. However, the system's scoring method does not account for the actual current condition of a vehicle. Accordingly, users of such a system are not able to make completely informed vehicle purchase decisions.
There is currently no system that provides purchasers with access to reliable, detailed, standardized information related to the current mechanical and aesthetic condition of a vehicle. Also, there is currently no system that provides a uniform interface through which users may objectively compare the current mechanical and aesthetic condition of multiple vehicles. Accordingly, there exists a need for a system that offers real-time access to standardized information about a vehicle's current mechanical and cosmetic condition.
In addition, after a desired vehicle's mechanical and aesthetic condition has been confirmed, a purchaser may need to arrange financing, insurance and/or vehicle shipping. Buyers who purchase a vehicle that is located far away and who wish to take delivery in person may need to make flight or other travel arrangements. Providers of these purchase-related services have a need for reliable lead-generation information so that they can efficiently focus their marketing efforts on those who are most likely to appreciate them.